Saturday, April 22, 2017

Dali's History and Culture under a British Painter's Brush

I've recently stumbled on an amazing video documentary about a British painter's life in Dali, Yunnan, from which I learned a bit about Dali's ancient history and culture as well as its modern day outline. Its inhabitants, the Bai tribe 白族, have a history that goes back all the way to the Nanzhao (8th & 9th century) and Kingdom of Dali era (10th, 11th & 12th century). Dali's famous landscapes include the Erhai Lake 洱海 and Cang Mountains 蒼山.

[P.S. Thanks to Jason Pym's (the British painter in the video) reminder, I now recall that Jin Yong's 天龍八部 is set in Dali. When I read the novel in my childhood, I was smitten with one of the protagonists 段譽 (a prince of the Kingdom of Dali) and his magical martial arts skill 凌波微步, but I've now forgotten most of the story.]